4080Presents: Improv Everywhere

Improv Everywhere is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It’s sort of like those flash mobs that were all the rage a few years ago, except they occur with a little bit of planning.

Basically, this group is a worldwide association of regional Improv groups that conduct these random missions they dream up. Here’s their own bio:

Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 70 missions involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City.

One of my favourite missions that they’ve done is what they call “Frozen Grand Central”. Here’s their description of the event:

On a cold Saturday in New York City, the world’s largest train station came to a sudden halt. Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station. Over 500,000 people rush through Grand Central every day, but today, things slowed down just a bit as commuters and tourists alike stopped to notice what was happening around them.

It’s actually kind of incredible to see these random missions. Most of them get a pretty positive response from the public. The Grand Central one in particular really seemed to absorb a lot of people, who just couldn’t figure out why someone would do something like this, or even what they were doing at all!